Functional activity in the endochrines: the physiological and pathological significance of the histological findings

Treatment by methods of grafting or transplantation is becoming better understood, and there is little reason to doubt that this line of treatment,in cases of endocrine deficiency, will become established presently on a sound basis. Recent experience has shown that in the suprarenal deficiency of Addison' s disease - so long intractable to any form of treatment - there is every hope of obtaining curative results by grafting, if the graft is embedded in a suitable position.Within recent years the endocrines have advanced rapidly in surgical interest. Great strides have been Lade, not only in the direction of a better understanding of' the biochemistry of the principal glands, but also in the treatment of their diseases by surgical measures. The principal hormone of the thyroid appears to have been isolated and to have been produced synthetically by Kendall, and the work of Plummer, Goetsch, and Wilson, has done much to elucidate the pathological affections of this gland. Brailsford Robertson believes that he has succeeded '. isolating the active principal of the anterior lobe o the pituitary. In the direction of surgical therapy, the scientific method and careful technique of Críle, Mayo, Judd, and others in their work on the thyroid gland has been followed by the most happy results, more especially in the treatment of the various forms of toxic goitre. Operations on the pituitary,especiel ly in the hands of Frazier & Adson, have been followee by much greater success than formerly.Knowledge still lags,however,in the case of many of the endocrines,both in regard to their physiology and their pathology. The function of the pineal gland is largely a matter of conjecture,the fate of the secretion óf the posterior lobe of the pituitary is still under discussion,and much remains to be learned of the function of the pa.rathyroids and of the suprarenal cortex.The object of the present investigation is to examine the principal endocrines in a state of functional activity, comparing the appearances with those of the organs in a ouiscent state,and to consider the bearing of the signs of secretory activity of the healthy gland. on the physiology and also on the pathological affections in each case.It is well known that in certain states of the organism, especially those of excessive sympathetic excitation ,such as occurs in rage or fright, as shown by Cannon,and at certain periods of life - dentition, puberty, menstruation, and pregnancy - there is an excessive demand on the activities of the endocrine organs. These activities reach their zenith in pregnancy, which condition throws a greater strain on the organism than any other physiological process. It is becoming increasingly evident that in pregnancy there exists a condition of pluri-glandular activity in which all, or the majority, of the endocrines are functioning more actively than normal. a comparison of the histological appearances in non -pregnant and pregnant animals is therefore likely to show certain differences between the resting and the active phases of endocrine tissues.In order to examine the finer details of cell structure it is necessary to obtain an immediate coagulation of the living protoplasm. It is only by immediate fixation of the tissues from newly- killed animals that a satisfactory result can be obtained. A specimen from a healthy human subject at the desired periods is rarely, if ever, available, and the tissues examined after death from infective or toxic causes are practically valueless from the point of view of the study of the normal organ or tissue. Even in cases of death of healthy subjects from injury there is inevitably delay in obtaining and fixing the tissue, and in the interval secretion products disappear and extensive degenerative changes may take place in the cell protoplasm.In the present research the animals employed have been healthy guinea -pigs and rabbits. The guinea -pig has been a specially suitable subject for examination, the principal endocrine glands being all of large size and easily discovered and stained. Elliott & Tuckett have shown that this animal possesses a larger suprarenal in proportion to its size than any other of the usual laboratory animals. The same probably holds good with regard to the thyroid and the thymus. Tissues from the human subject have also been examined in certain cases, but owing to the delay between the time of death and the fixation of the specimen, the results, as a general rule, have been less satisfactory than in animals. In the case of a few operation specimens, however, it was possible to fix the tissue while it was still warm, and these specimens gave good histological results

Communication, development, and social change in Spain: A field between institutionalization and implosion

This paper renders an account of the rapid institutionalization of the academic field of Communication for Development and Social Change (CDCS) in Spain in recent years following a period of neglect and marginalization. The ongoing expansion of the field of CDSC in the Spanish context is understood as a process of implosion, i.e. a collapse inwards, which results from the inconsistencies and weaknesses of fast and late institutionalization. The methodological approach for this inquiry is a documental review of both academic literature and research and institutional reports produced in Spain between 1980 and 2010. Based on this review, the paper contrasts the trajectory of the field in Spain with the debates at the international level, establishing relevant continuities and differences.This article is part of the Research Project (Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, Spain) CSO2014-52005-R titled ‘Evaluation and Monitoring of Communication for Development and Social Change in Spain: design of indicators to measure its social impact’ (2015–2017)17 página

RPE PLaW

Co-published by FA

Deep Ultrasound Enhancements Final Report

This study involves collaboration between Los Alamos National Laboratory and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to enhance and optimize LANL's ultrasonic inspection capabilities for production. Deep-penetrating ultrasonic testing enhancement studies will extend the current capabilities, which only look for disbonds. Current ultrasonic methods in production use 15-20 MHz to inspect for disbonds. The enhanced capabilities use 5 MHz to penetrate to the back surface and image the back surface for any flaws. The enhanced capabilities for back surface inspection use transducers and squirter modifications that can be incorporated into the existing production system. In a production setup the current 15-20 MHz transducer and squirter would perform a bond inspection, followed by a deep inspection that would be performed by simply swapping out the 5 MHz transducer and squirter. Surrogate samples were manufactured of beryllium and bismuth to perform the ultrasonic enhancement studies. The samples were used to simulate flaws on the back surface and study ultrasound's ability to image them. The ultrasonic technique was optimized by performing experiments with these samples and analyzing transducer performance in detecting flaws in the surrogate. Beam patterns were also studied experimentally using a steel ball reflector to measure beam patterns, focal points, and sensitivities to better understand the relationship between design and performance. Many transducers were evaluated including transducers from LANL's production system, LLNL, and other commercially available transducers. Squirter design was also analyzed while performing experiments Flat-bottom holes and ball-mill defects of various sizes were introduced into the samples for experimentation. Flaws depths were varied from .020'' to 0.060'', and diameters varied from 0.0625'' to 0.187''. The smallest defect, .020'' depth and 0.0625'', was detected. Ultrasonic amplitude features produced better images than time-of-flight features. 5 MHz was the optimal frequency, because it was able to penetrate deepest into the materials. Squirter standoff distance was found to be significant, and a standoff of an inch or so with an opening that is larger than the diameter of the transducer is recommended. Recommendations for enhancement are made based on the results of the experimental studies on Be-Bi samples. Future work should focus on deployment of a deep ultrasound technology and obtain initial results with real units. Efforts should be made to develop a reference sample for calibration. A reference sample would optimize reliability and sizing for test under production environment conditions